


ben wouldn't let himself break down so now his body is doing it for him

by MourningDew



Category: Ben 10 Series
Genre: Angst, God I hope I finish this, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Sickfic, Sickfic?, ben gets sick, ben is tired, slight body horror? very slight, this is just one big excuse to be self indulgent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:34:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24951679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MourningDew/pseuds/MourningDew
Summary: ben pretends not to have crippling mental illness and pays the price when his body breaks from stress. thank god he has family to fall back on when he's extra stupid
Comments: 18
Kudos: 66





	1. good morning how about some pain- said everyone with a uterus and also ben

**Author's Note:**

> haha let's hope i actually finish this

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha let's hope i actually finish this

Ben hadn’t been late for patrol in a long while. It had originally taken an irritating two and a half weeks for the world’s greatest hero to start showing up on time, but once he started he didn’t stop.

If Rook was honest, he would say he was a little disappointed in his partner; they had a good streak going- both in schedule and in teamwork- and he was reminded of just how often Ben used to brush him off completely. Of course things were far different now, so Rook tried to just be worried.

Maybe something  _ did  _ happen to him; it was obviously no secret that there were countless people in the universe that hated Ben Tennyson- there were even  _ more  _ if you included the multiverse. Any number of villains could have decided to attack him in his own room or wait to prey on him just outside (the Tennyson household was under constant protection of plumber tech, but it was never a perfect fix. The only reason Ben’s parents hadn’t been abducted and killed already is because of Ma Vreedle, no doubt). 

Rook had heard several stories about how Ben woke to someone crashing through his window or kicking his door down; of course the house’s security kicked in right away, but it couldn’t be good to wake up to that and Rook suspected it happened more often than Ben cared to admit (sometimes he came in for patrols already scraped up or looking far too tired for the time of day). 

Just as Rook was beginning to thumb his plumber’s badge to call Ben, he spotted a familiar mess of brown hair shuffling toward his truck. “Good morning, Ben. Where were you?”

Ben shrugged, going straight for the door, “overslept. Sorry.”

Rook went around the truck and slid into the driver’s seat, automatically putting it in drive and pulling out of plumber headquarters. Once they were on the highway, he began stealing glances at Ben out of the corner of his eye. “...Are you alright? You seem tired.”

“Just didn’t sleep well,” Ben muttered, eyes firmly on the window, “I’ll be fine.”

Unless Ben saying “fine” meant  _ horribly ill, _ then Rook had been bluntly lied to, because the very first fight they got caught up in, Ben was thrown against the wall. He then proceeded to fall to his hands and knees, shudder, and heave up his breakfast of half a smoothie.

Both Rook and Liam had frozen on the spot, taken aback by the sudden change of situation. “What- what happened?” Rook asked as soon as he was able, hurrying to help Ben back to his feet.

“Sorry, sorry… I guess I’m sick.”

“Why did you not say anything?”

Ben sighed heavily, but his attention was snagged by Liam, who was backing away with a phone in his hand, “yeah, Ben Ten is sick! Get down here right now-” he spun and began running in the other direction the second Rook went for his proto-tool- “ _ right now- right now!  _ This is our  _ chance!” _

Rook dragged Ben after him as they took off after the chicken, but it was suddenly  _ very  _ apparent just how bad Ben had been feeling. They lost him among the food stalls of undertown and, with no threat present, Rook put his hands on his hips and turned on his partner, “ _ why  _ did you not say anything?”

Ben cringed and made a  _ calm down  _ motion with his hands, but all it did was make Rook realize Ben was trembling slightly, “I thought it was fine, okay? It wasn’t that bad.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets, “I woke up this morning and felt kinda off, but I went with it anyway because what was I  _ supposed  _ to do? Stay home ‘cause I was a little tired?”

Rook crossed his arms, bitter that he was right, “well you could have- you could have  _ mentioned  _ it to me. You threw up _ ,  _ Ben. Plus, you are now injured.” He had to have been- Liam wasn’t a good fighter by any means, but if he could get a grip on you, he hit hard. “We should take you back to headquarters and have you examined.”

Ben was gearing himself up to argue- Rook could see it in his eyes- but a second of silence passed, then two, and the fight drained out of him all at once. Suddenly he looked really, really tired. “Fine, but don’t come crying to me when it’s just a stupid cold.” 

“Very well.”

They had chased Liam to a rather quiet area of Bellwood- at least compared to the bustling city most of it held; Rook honestly wasn’t exactly sure where they were, so he spent a moment punching coordinates into the truck and making sure Ben had a bag in his lap in case of emergency. 

It wasn’t five minutes later that they had a problem much bigger than puke oozing on Rook’s truck floor.

There was a roadblock of people- Rook managed to pick out Animo, Fistrick, Liam, and several people and beasts he didn’t recognize before he was leaping from his truck to avoid the blast from the gun Fistrick leveled at them.

He could hear his truck groan from the hit, but all he felt was relief as he saw Ben scrambling to stand on the other side of the road.

“It seems today is finally my lucky day,” Animo said, a few snarling bear things at his sides, “since a little birdy told me Ben Tennyson was sick, weak, and  _ ripe for the killing!” _

Liam snapped something that sounded like  _ “I’m not little!”  _ but Fistrick talked over him, “And one thing led to another and, well… now it’s a party. And I dunno about you, but I’m having a  _ great  _ time.”

Rook was steadily recognizing more people- it seemed their main problem would be Animo, Fistrick, and Zombozo (who he just noticed trying to gloat at them from the back of the small crowd), but each of them had some form of henchmen; Animo’s bears seemed most intimidating with the way they were looking at him, but Rook wasn’t fooled- he knew others here were extremely skilled and skill beat raw force any day.

“Please stand down and do not attack,” Rook began, slowly inching his way around his truck’s inverted bumper to get closer to Ben, “I am a member of the plumbers and I will not hesitate to-”

Ben groaned, “Rook, come on-”

“-arrest every single one of you here-”

“They never listen and you know it!”

“-in accordance of… many laws.”

The entire group laughed at him and Rook tensed when he saw them spreading out to surround them. “Yeah, whatever, red spot,” Fistrick scoffed.

The street was immediately overtaken with chaos- Rook wasted no time in throwing Ben to the ground and standing protectively over him; he was able to deflect  _ some  _ attacks, throwing people into each other and tripping others until it was a mess of limbs and dodging and  _ move, Ben, move! They’re here to kill you! _

Rook yanked his badge up to his mouth, “this is Rook Blonko calling for immediate,  _ emergency _ backup! There is-” he flinched as his badge was kicked out of his hand, skidding across the road and tumbling through someone’s lawn.

“Smash it!” Someone yelled, and the whole group shifted all at once; several people were tripped and Rook himself got his hand stomped on. He flinched at the loud sound of a bear roaring and gaped as someone huge went flying over the whole group.

Rook scrambled to break free of the crowd and finally saw Ben as Blitzwolfer, hunched over the badge and snarling as Zombozo who was brandishing his hammer like a sword. 

“Ben! Pass,” Rook called, waving his arms like he’d seen humans do when they played football. At once, Ben grabbed the badge and chucked it at him- a little too far to the right. Rook dove for it and executed a roll, running down the street as he could  _ feel  _ everyone right on his heels. “We are being pursued by an angry mob of- of criminals and Ben is unable to fight-” he ducked in time to feel someone’s knife graze his ear, “-and we are on the outskirts of Bellwood-!”

He gasped as Ben pounded passed him on all fours, three slobbering bears right on his tail; once he was further down the street he managed to escape them just long enough for Rook to throw the badge to him.

Rook grunted as he felt someone tackle him to the ground and he was swept up all at once in just making sure this fight didn’t turn into a  _ beating. _ He could hear Ben snarling viciously in the background, no doubt tearing into someone like a feral beast.

At some point through the mess of sweat and blood, Rook stumbled across his badge shattered on the pavement; he couldn’t even say he was surprised. He just hoped the plumbers got the message and managed to track them before his signal went dead. “The outskirts of Bellwood” were a little vague, considering how serious the situation was turning.

Rook heard the damning sound of Ben timing out and took the bright flash of light as his cue to dive between Liam’s legs, jump off Zombozo’s head, and climb up the back of the nearest bear all so he could land in front of Ben before he could be beaten to death. 

He didn’t stay there very long in the chaos, but it was just enough time for Ben to dial in a new alien, so it didn’t matter. As he was locked in combat with some sort of feral clown, he could only listen in horror at the conversation flying around him.

“I want to gut him!”

“It should be  _ me! _ None of you whelps are worthy!”

“I’m the one that called you all here! I should-”

“Shut  _ up-” _

There was a loud  _ crack  _ and Rook could only assume a small bomb went off.

“ _ That’s it! You’re so dead!” _

“Bring it on, you-”

A high pitched shriek drowned everything out at once, bringing the fighting to a shaky halt as everyone stopped to cover their ears. Rook blearily realized that Echo Echo was on the ground, letting loose a full volume scream as a sickly looking purple liquid dribbled from his eyes.

Rook felt his stomach go heavy at the sight and forced himself to kick Zombozo’s teeth in and make his way toward Ben. Halfway there he heard the rumble of several high speed vehicles and spun around to see-  _ backup was here, oh thank god. _

There were three large cars; Rook barely managed to glimpse Magister Tennyson behind the wheel of the first one before it slammed into a bear and went careening off the road. More plumbers were spilling out of the other cars and it took Rook a minute to realize they had earplugs in.

It finally went quiet, but Rook could still hear a sharp ringing in his ears even as the fighting slowly picked up again. This time, though, he was being pulled from it instead of being thrown face first into the center of it.

“You alright, Rook?” Magister Tennyson asked, pulling him toward the third car. The second he managed to nod, the Magister moved on, “good. Where’s Ben?”

“Still in the fray, I am sorry to say.”

The Magister was shaking his head before he was even finished and Rook turned to see a young plumber running from one of Fistrick’s lakeys, holding Echo Echo high above her head like she was keeping him from getting snagged. “I got him!”

“Good work,” Tennyson said, gesturing them toward the car, “now let’s-”

They never got two steps closer before a small bomb flew in front of them and blew up right under the vehicle, sending shrapnel everywhere and throwing off a tire. A second explosion went off near the last standing car, ruining it as well as sending off the car alarm.

“You’re not going  _ anywhere,  _ Ben Tennyson,” Zombozo shouted, even as he was tackled to the ground by another plumber.

The young recruit set Ben down and promptly saluted to Magister Tennyson, “orders, sir?”

He sighed heavily, “we’ll go on foot. Tell Garron to take care of things here.”

“Yes sir!”

As she raced back toward the chaos, Magister Tennyson picked up his grandson and took off at a jog, “you alright, Ben?”

For a moment, the only response was a quiet, static noise, but then Ben squirmed and sat up a bit in the Magister’s arms. “I’m fine.”

“Thank god.”

\---

When Max had gotten an emergency call telling him his grandson couldn’t fight and was trapped in a mob of people out for his head, he’d been more than a little worried. He could hardly wait for the time it took to get a squad together; all his past experience was the only thing that kept him from getting in a ship and flying away to make sure Ben was okay.

Now that he had Ben in his arms and was fast walking through the streets of Bellwood back to HQ, he was glad he took a team. He might not have been able to handle such a one-sided fight if Ben was down for the count. Speaking of which-

“So what’s this I hear about Ben being unable to fight,” Max asked, veering toward an alley for a shortcut, “and what’s this purple stuff on you?”

When he got silence from the alien in his arms, Rook answered instead, “he is sick and injured. I am not sure what the substance is.”

“Then maybe it’s Echo Echo’s way of showing the symptoms. Why’d you come in if you were sick?”

Ben groaned, “I  _ said  _ I didn’t feel sick when I woke up.”

Max paused at the familiar time-out sound and set Echo Echo down; Ben was back in a flash of green light, except- oh, he was swaying and falling-

Max snapped his hand out to catch him by the shoulder and pull him back to lean against him. “Hey, now. You sure you’re okay?”

“He was thrown against a wall earlier,” Rook offered.

“Traitor,” Ben muttered.

Rook sighed in exasperation, “how is telling the Magister your condition considered traitorous?” 

Max tuned out their bickering when he saw the purple liquid was still there- in fact, it was still coming. ...That meant it wasn’t part of the transformation- something was wrong. Really wrong. “Quiet. We have to get back to headquarters and get you checked out.”

Ben groaned loudly.

Max wordlessly reached into his back pocket and pulled out a handkerchief (Ben called him old for carrying one) before trying to wipe away some of the fluid.

Once Ben saw the smeared cloth, his eyes went wide. “...I, uh, thought that was just blood.”

“Whatever it is,” Rook cut in, “it can not be anything good.”

Ben, reluctance written all over his face, agreed, “it  _ is  _ kinda gross.”

\---

They were attacked two more times on their way back to HQ. By the time they were finally safe inside, Max was out of weapons and Rook was exhausted, carrying Ben on his back while the substance dripped down his front.

Ben definitely felt out of it- there were spots in his memory- he knew he transformed at some point, but beyond the fact that the alien used electricity he wasn’t sure who he turned into. Either Feedback, Ampfibian, Buzzshock, Ampfibian-... wait…

Maybe he really was getting sick. He woke up with a pain in his skull and an ache in his side and by now every last part of his body was in pain. If he wasn’t so used to getting his ass handed to him on the daily, he would probably be crying by now. 

As it was, he was staring up at the infirmary ceiling as the fifth doctor they’d called in was pacing at his bedside. 

“By all means, this doesn’t make sense,” she rambled, “it’s clearly an alien sickness, but it’s taken hold in a human body. Maybe transforming into other aliens gave you the ability to catch it? Or perhaps someone didn’t follow sterilizing protocol and brought something to Earth… Maybe I should call this in…” she turned to muttering as she inched toward the door, leaving him uncured and irritable.

Ben could just barely hear Grandpa Max talking outside his room, “ _ please,  _ just put me through to Azmuth. Ben is really, really sick and no one here knows what it is- we got him some of the best doctors and none of them had a clue. He’s overheated, in pain, sweating, crying  _ some  _ sort of alien stuff… no I’m  _ not  _ overreacting.”

The only quiet one was Rook, who was hovering worriedly in the corner. It was endearing about two hours ago, but now it was just annoying. Everything was annoying and he was really,  _ really  _ tired. All the lights in the room felt like they were grating against his brain.

“So he’s just in here? Thanks!”

Ben perked up a bit at the sound of his cousins voice; he sat up on his elbows to watch her walk in, a few books in her hands and Kevin on her heels as usual.

“Hey, nerd,” he greeted.

“Doofus,” she dropped her books on the bedside table, “nice to see you.”

“What  _ happened  _ to you,” Kevin cut in, no doubt ogling at the deep purple smears down his face. Gwen elbowed him in the side for Ben’s sake.

He let himself fall back on the bed, “I’m sick, probably.”

“Probably?” Kevin gave him an unimpressed look.

“Nobody knows what it is.”

Gwen put the back of her hand on his forehead and he automatically flinched away. There was a moment where they just stared at him, unsure if they’d hurt him or something, before he apologized and brought her hand back to him.

Gwen’s touch was a shock to his system; cool against his skin and leaving tingles in its wake. Ben was now officially convinced he was sick and delusional. 

He waited as she flipped through her books and tried a few different spells on him- the most he felt was a little dizzy from watching the pink light swirl over him.

“I don’t get it,” she sighed, “that spell was supposed to cure  _ anything.  _ Or at the very least help fight it. It was my best spell and I spent  _ months  _ on it. What did you  _ do?” _

Ben shut his eyes, “I woke up.” 

He ignored the uncomfortable silence that followed. He wasn’t really sure what he said- he woke up and that set the clock to start his ruined day. That’s how it worked for him.

“I think I got Azmuth to come,” Grandpa Max, walking back in the room, only to freeze as the man himself teleported onto Ben’s bedside table.

“Oh, hey,” Ben tried to put on a smirk, “look who decided to show up.”

Azmuth scowled and began stepping around Gwen’s books, “I didn’t travel to this dump of a planet so you could pester me with your sarcasm, Ben Tennyson. There are hundreds of better things I could be doing right now than caring for-...” 

Ben deflated; he could already feel bad news and all Azmuth did was  _ look  _ at him. “...What,” he said a little too defensively.

“Has the substance been tested yet?” Azmuth asked, turning to the closest mature person in the room which happened to be Rook.

“Er- yes, sir. Blukic and Dreeba ran some tests and neither of them have any idea what it is. Should I go get whatever results they do have…?”

Azmuth shook his head, “don’t bother. I already know what it is.” 

“Okaaay, you gonna clue us in, then?” Kevin crossed his arms.

“I’m getting to it,” Azmuth brushed him off, turning back to Ben, “where does it hurt the most?”

“The  _ most?” _ He didn’t really want to go looking for some lazer wound if he didn’t have to, but it seemed like the ‘greatest mind’ was looking for something else. Ben squirmed a bit, testing different parts of his body until he was reminded with a jolt of the constant ache in his gut. “Around here,” he mumbled, waving a hand over the area. 

There was some shuffling and Grandpa Max helped him sit up just enough to tug up his shirt and hoodie, revealing an entire array of deep, purple lines crisscrossing the left side of his stomach and spiderwebbing up across his chest.

Ben sucked in a breath through his teeth, suddenly feeling chilled with it exposed to the air. He desperately wanted to shove his clothes back down because, wow, everyone was staring at him, but Azmuth had climbed on top of him and was skirting around the area.

“Tell me where, exactly, it hurts most when I do this,” Azmuth said and put a feather light touch on his stomach and slowly moving it along the lines.

Ben automatically tensed, grabbing fistfuls of blankets before he even realized he what he was doing. Even that light of a touch felt like dragging a knife across his skin- threatening and sharp and sending little shocks all throughout his body.

Azmuth left the line he was on and touched a different one, but he didn’t get further than a tap before Ben’s body seized and he choked on a sharp cry. He didn’t even feel the pain at first- just harsh tingling running up his spine. Then it was light a searing burn right through his gut.

Ben yanked his shirt down and turned to his side, pressing his hands to his stomach and blearily watching Azmuth climb back onto the bedside table as he trembled.

“What’d you  _ do  _ to him!?” Kevin snapped.

“Please calm down,” Azmuth began, “I did nothing. The pain will pass. I will be right back with something to help, so try not to do anything foolish.”

Before Kevin could grab him, Azmuth had teleported out of the room in a flash of dismissive light. Ben stared at the empty space for a moment before he snapped with a burst of breathless laughter. Everything about this was so stupid- this obviously wasn’t just any sickness. Something about him was  _ really  _ fucked up if  _ Azmuth  _ was going to get him medicine.

That scared him. A lot. Ben Ten wasn’t  _ allowed  _ to die.

“G-... Grandpa,” he immediately cringed at how pathetic it sounded.

The man was kneeling at his bedside in an instant, “I’m here, Ben. Are you okay?” 

Grandpa put a gentle hand on Ben’s shoulder and, yet again, he felt tingles running all over from the touch. “Mhm. Yep. Peachy. I-... I guess I’m dying?”

“You’re  _ not  _ dying,” Gwen snapped, “we’ve met your future self a billion times by now and he was an adult. Who knows how old, but he definitely  _ wasn’t  _ a sixteen year old kid.”

“Yeah,” Kevin spoke up, “and Azmuth didn’t seem that worried. If it was  _ that  _ important he would’ve made some other loser get his stuff.”

Ben smiled a bit, though he really didn’t feel like it. “Isn’t it the other way around?”

Kevin stuttered and tried to save himself, but Azmuth was back before he could say more than “uh,  _ actually-” _

“I will explain now, so listen carefully. Ben has an anodite illness.”

Gwen did a double take, “wait- is this my fault? No it’s not, I haven’t seen him in months- actually, should I be here?”

Azmuth sighed, “it is not contagious. The substance coming from his eyes is concentrated mana. It is-”

“He’s leaking  _ life force!?” _

“ _ Yes, however, _ ” Azmuth said exaggeratingly slowly as he stared Gwen down, “you caught the illness in its early stages and it is no longer fatal.” He dropped a small case on the bedside table, what was most likely pills rattling inside.

Grandpa Max gently squeezed Ben’s shoulder (he tried not to shiver), “please explain it to us- what does it mean?”

“I’ve been  _ trying  _ to tell you for the past five minutes,” Azmuth rolled his eyes. “Since Anodites are energy beings, they are particularly sensitive to emotions- both their own and others. Ben has been battling incredibly toxic and evil people since he was a mere ten years old, so it wouldn’t be hard to assume they got to him.” He gave Ben a knowing look, “it doesn’t help that he has that habit of bottling his feelings.”

“But Ben does not have any powers,” Rook cut in.

“Maybe not, but the fact still stands that Benjamin has anodite lineage. There’s likely just enough mana infused in him for him to acquire an illness like this. In normal anodites, it would look more like cracks, with raw mana shining through from their core. It developed in their species over millennia to alert one another when one of their own was undergoing extreme emotional strain.”

“Okay, well…” Grandpa Max rubbed the back of his neck, “what should we do?”

“I would need to take another look at his cracks to tell you exactly, but-”

“Hey,” Ben cut in, “can we stop talking about me like I’m not here?”

Grandpa sighed, “sorry, Ben, but we-”

“Show me the cracks,” Azmuth commanded.

Ben thought about giving him a nice, shiny  _ fuck you  _ for the tone, but at the end of the day he did exactly as Ben asked. He bitterly struggled to sit up, his entire body feeling like it was on fire. He thought he would throw up at one point, but just as he was about to aim at Azmuth it went away, so he made it all the way up and lifted his shirt.

“As you all can see, Benjamin’s cracks are mainly collected over his stomach and heart. For anodites, the heart is where guilt is said to be held while the stomach is for fear. So obviously Ben has allowed too much guilt and fear to fester.”

“But that’s ridiculous,” Ben said immediately, even as he acknowledged to himself that, yeah, that made a lot of sense, “I’m perfectly happy.”

Azmuth gave him a tired look, “if you were  _ perfectly happy, _ then your body wouldn’t be asking for help in your stead.” He held Ben’s gaze for a moment, waiting for an argument that didn’t come, before pulling out his teleporter, “administer the medicine any time he begins to leak mana. If, for some reason, you need more than what I have provided, contact me and I will send someone here. Do  _ not  _ contact me for any other reason unless the boy is near death. I’m terribly busy. Do you understand?”

Grandpa Max took the box of meds, “yes. I got it. Thank you, Azmuth.”

Azmuth nodded approvingly and turned to fix Ben with a stern look, “try talking about your problems, for once,” he advised as he teleported out of the room, dunking Ben into a cold silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> azmuth: ben got vibe checked  
> max: >:(


	2. snatched

After Azmuth left, Gwen and Kevin followed with promises of visitation, leaving Ben with his partner and grandfather. 

As it turns out, there were no pills in the box; instead, Grandpa Max reached in and pulled out a weird looking contraption with an intimidating needle perched on the edge, glinting in the light.

Ben- very predictably- immediately began bluffing about how the pain wasn’t so bad that he’d need an industrial sized needle for it. “I mean look at the thing. I’ll bleed out if you stick me with that!”

Grandpa Max rolled his eyes, “you’ll be fine, Ben. Asmuth is smarter than all of us combined and I’m sure he knows what he’s doing giving this to you.” 

Grandpa made a grab for Ben’s arm which he yanked out of the way just in time, only to suck in a breath through his teeth when an ache shot through his bones. “But it- that’s  _ way  _ too long. Come  _ on. _ Rook,” he pleaded, “back me up here.” 

Rook crossed his arms, “actually, Ben, I believe it is in your best interest to allow your medication.” Ben groaned loudly. “Asmuth  _ did  _ say that this could be lethal, but you were in the early stages of the illness.”

“Asmuth says lots of things…” Ben muttered, cringing as Grandpa finally got a hold of his arm.

He flinched when the needle was positioned over his arm and Grandpa Max gave him one of those  _ looks. _ Finally, he stuck him with the needle and Ben felt a burning sensation go up his arm; he shuddered as his sight went blurry.

When the shitty burning sensation finally left his arm, Ben didn’t waste time in rubbing the place Grandpa got him in and shooting everyone nearby betrayed looks.

“I wonder when it’s supposed to work,” Grandpa Max dropped the empty canister in the bio hazard trash.

“Perhaps it is fast acting,” Rook suggested, “Ben, do you feel any different?”

Ben began to roll his shoulder, gearing up to make a big show of how shitty he felt (it shouldn’t be hard), but barely a minute had passed and  _ wow,  _ he really did feel different. In fact, he hadn’t felt this good in a really, really long time.

And that’s when he realized that maybe this sickness didn’t just crop up today. Ben has been waking up from a long night’s rest completely exhausted for a long time now; his entire body held an ache that no amount of pain killers could fully subside. Any normal person would probably see a doctor at that point, but Ben got beat up on the daily. How was he supposed to know the difference between an alien sickness and an alien punch to the gut?

Rook must have seen the realization on his face, because he smiled, “good. I will hang on to the medicine so hopefully you will not break it.”

Before he could pick it up, Grandpa Max shook his head, “just a minute, Rook. You weren’t thinking of taking him back on the field, were you?”

“Well, I-”

“You’re not letting me back out!?” Ben scrambled to stand, rising easier than he had in months, “but I’m fine now!”

Grandpa Max grabbed the medication and shoved it deep in his pocket, “hardly. How about you tell me about this unresolved guilt and fear?”

Ben’s mind went blank for a second. “Well… I’m a hero who’s been kicking butt since I was ten. Even I get nervous sometimes. I have it under control, though- I mean, with all I do on the daily, how could I not?”

“That hardly means-” Rook stuttered, “that does not mean that you-”

“Ben,” Grandpa Max cut in, sounding  _ way  _ too serious, “if this ever  _ did  _ get out of hand, you’d end up dead.” The room went cold, but Grandpa didn’t stop there, “you have so many enemies I can’t even count them anymore. Today someone found out you were sick and  _ everyone  _ was out to get you.”

Ben shifted his weight, “...it was- it was under control…”

“It really was not.”

“Shut up, Rook!” 

Grandpa Max clapped his hands down on Ben’s shoulders, “just  _ talk to me,  _ Ben. I don’t think you understand how much this scares me…”

Ben pushed Grandpa’s hands off, “okay, okay, y’know what? I dunno what you  _ want  _ from me.” He crossed his arms, “every day you’re telling me to shape up and be strong and do better and- and- and- do all this stuff! Now you want me to just- what, talk about my feelings?” He laughed a bit, “...well I can honestly tell you I don’t know what’s supposedly  _ wrong  _ with me.”

Rook looked warily between them, “nothing is  _ wrong,  _ but you  _ have  _ had incredible responsibility set on you at a very young age. It is okay to be frightened from-”

“I’m not scared!” Ben winced as his stomach churned, “sure I fight big bad guys all the time, but- actually, exactly that. I fight big bad guys  _ all the time.  _ Why  _ should  _ I be scared?”

“Why are you asking if you’re not,” Grandpa Max asked pointedly.

Ben made a conscious effort not to react to that. “...I don’t have to- I don’t gotta listen to this,” he resorted to darting passed Grandpa Max, but he didn’t even make it to the door before Rook’s hand snatched his wrist and yanked him backward.

Ben went down and hit the floor with a graceless flail (he often envied Rook for how poised he always seemed), a fuzzy feeling creeping outward from where Rook held him. 

“I am sorry,” Rook leaned over him, “but leaving plumber headquarters could be detrimental to your survival. Until you are returned to peak physical condition, I believe it would be unwise to go outside.”

Ben deflated, “...so, what, I’m a prisoner now?”

Grandpa Max pushed him to sit up, “no, of course not. Your my grandson and I’m  _ gonna  _ keep you safe.”

“I could never call myself your partner if I were to allow harm to come to you,” Rook agreed.

Ben could already feel a headache coming on.

\---

So he was stuck under house arrest. Apparently his parents had been notified that he wouldn’t be home for the “foreseeable future,” but that didn’t make him feel any better. What if somebody  _ really  _ bad showed up like Vilgax, but Ben couldn’t get there in time because he was down here talking about his fucking  _ feelings  _ instead of patrolling?

This was why he didn’t bother talking about these things. This was fucking why. Criminals would be running rampant- hell, they probably already were. Word would spread that Ben was out of commission and now it would be up to the plumbers alone to deal with threats they couldn’t match up to.

Ben felt a bit too much like a caged animal as he paced the entirety of his provided room. The guards just outside the open door (Rook knew him too goddamn well) had been sweating nervously for awhile now. Everyone present knew Ben could mop the floor with both of them if he wanted to.

Ben dropped heavily onto his bed and began scrolling through his aliens.

Honestly it wouldn’t be that hard at all to escape from HQ. He knew the place inside and out and many of its protocols and inner workings. He  _ did _ pay attention  _ sometimes. _ The many raids helped him remember.

Ben stared down at Humungusaur’s symbol and imagined it; he could smash through the wall and send the guards into the rubble and rush everyone else. No one readily carried weapons big enough to stop Humungusaur when they were in the middle of HQ. ...But then again, those weapons would be readily available soon enough. If he wasn’t fast enough, he’d get caught and have something clamped over the omnitrix.

Then what about Chemalien? He could walk right passed everyone and no one would suspect a thing. Though the guards outside would see the transformation light and be on guard. Ben could take them out, but Chemalien doesn’t hit very hard and-...

And Ben was hyper analyzing an escape route from people trying to protect him. It wasn’t his fault they were so nosy, but… they were right. It  _ was  _ dangerous.

He finally gave up, closing the door and falling face first into bed. Maybe he would have better ideas after a good nap. 

\---

Ben woke up to the sound of two muffled thuds. He stared blankly at the wall wondering where the hell he’d fallen asleep this time when the door suddenly swung open and two plumbers marched in. “Uh- is there a… problem?”

Instead of an answer, the taller one shoved something at him, which promptly exploded into a cloud of murky, yellow gas. 

It burned in his lungs and he took that as his queue to roll out of bed and slam his hand down on the omnitrix- it gave him Spidermonkey and he blindly shot a few strands of web in his attacker’s direction; the gas was making him lightheaded.  _ Really  _ lightheaded.

“He’s still up,” one of them snapped.

“It’s fine,” the other cooed, “this is why I brought two.”

Ben managed to tumble out of the way of someone trying to grab him, but he hit a wall not long after. “Who are you? What are-... gh…” He flinched as someone grabbed him from behind and shuddered when another cloud of gas went off in his face.

In a sense, it was morbidly fascinating to feel his body giving out from under him; to watch as his vision faded in and out before going black. He’s felt this countless times now, but it always leaves him feeling just as queasy as the first time.

\---

Ben woke with a horrid taste in his mouth and a raging headache; it wouldn’t be unusual except for the fact that his shoulders were strained and sore from his forearms being duct taped together. Minimal shifting made it obvious that there was way too much tape used over the omnitrix. It also seemed his ankles were duct taped together.

Once some of the fog cleared from his mind, it was apparent that the taste in his mouth was thanks to the towel-turned-gag tied around his head. He was on the floor in some dusty warehouse (why did it always have to be some grimy abandoned place? Just once couldn’t he be kidnapped and taken to some swanky hotel?) with a few aliens he didn’t recognize talking on the other side of the room.

Ben locked eyes with the tallest one, who immediately shushed his companions. “He’s finally awake.”

The group wandered toward him, so Ben took his chance to size them up. There were two dog-looking aliens, both with a little too many limbs and armor that didn’t really fit them; one was an earthy brown while the other had more green tones. The last one was tall with scales, a bunch of eyes, and powerful looking arms. They would probably be rather top heavy, then.

“Mornin’, sunshine,” the green one sang, “you were out for awhile.”

Ben made a muffled sound of acknowledgement and Scaley bent down to roughly tug the gag off his head. He spent a minute working his jaw before sitting up (more difficult without arms or the ability to get his ankles apart, but he’s had practice) and giving his attackers a once over. “So,” he began pleasantly, “what’d you kidnap me for?”

Brown Guy chuckled, “well a little birdy told us that-”

Ben groaned, “come  _ on,  _ I already heard that joke today. So Liam called you, whatever, get on with it.”

“Hey, just who do you think you’re talking to?” Green Guy snapped, growling at him.

“I dunno, a kidnapper and his lackeys would be my first guess.”

“ _ Lackeys-” _

“Shut up,” Brown put his hands on his hips with a noisy clank, “you’re our prisoner so you do what we say. Now show some respect. Your omnitrix can’t save you here.”

Ben rolled his eyes, “you think just ‘cause you tied me up I’m gonna do what you say? Puh-lease. I’ve been strapped down by way scarier guys than you losers.”

Scaley made a metallic, gurgling sound, every last eye glaring down at him.

“...Sorry, what was that? I don’t speak stupid.”

Brown stamped his foot, “she said  _ watch your tongue,  _ you stupid human! You’re in the presence of the best thieves in this entire solar system!”

“Ooh, a single solar system!” Ben smirked, “Nevermind all those guys that are the best in the galaxy.”

“Why you…!”

Scaley made a low, bubbly noise and knelt down, shoving the gag at him. Ben leaned away and huffed, “wait, wait, wait- okay, I actually have something important to say!”

The aliens paused expectantly.

“...Are you guys actually as stupid as you’re dressed? ‘Cause if you-” Ben sputtered out a laugh as Scaley grabbed him by the shirt and forced the gag back on, being far more rough than necessary with him.

This entire situation sucked, but at least it gave Ben something to concentrate on instead of sitting on his butt being totally useless. Rook might be pissed at him for leaving, but it’s not like it was his fault this time.

Ben looked passively up at his kidnappers with a shrug.

Green sneered at him, “whatever you say doesn’t matter anyway. Soon enough we will be off this miserable planet and then we will auction you  _ and  _ the omnitrix off to the highest bidder. We’ll be set for life. More than that, we’ll be famous for capturing the  _ great  _ Ben Ten,” he said mockingly.

“I hope you get tortured and left to rot in some rich man’s cell,” Brown spat.

Scaley made a few noises (Ben decided to just assume it was an insult) and turned away, the two dog things following her like the lackeys they absolutely were. They sat at a nearby table and spoke quietly over some papers; Ben managed to spot a familiar looking mask on the edge of the table. The one that changed your form- like the ones the DNAliens always wore… though this one looked a little sleeker. Probably a newer model or something.

Ben lowered himself to lay down on the floor with a muffled grunt, feeling his body twinge in pain. Maybe the medicine was wearing off; it’d be a good idea to get out of here before Scaley finally gets off Earth with him.

The one good thing about always getting thrown into gross warehouses was the mess; a little ways to his left Ben could see a twisted, rusty nail sticking out of the floorboards. He would probably cut himself up and die if he tried to free his arms, so legs it was.

He began rubbing the duct tape back and forth over the nail, doing his best to cut in the same place each time. He scraped his leg a little in the process, but a couple minutes later he was pulling his legs apart and bitterly ignoring the way the tape stuck to his right leg. 

Ben stumbled to a standing position- the dizziness that came with it wasn’t a good sign- and ran for the nearest exit which happened to be a shattered window. There were shouts behind him as he tucked his legs in, praying he wouldn’t slice himself up on glass, but then he was falling over himself on the pavement outside and it didn’t really matter. It hurt like a bitch either way.

Ben used the wall to stand and took off down the street, trying not to let the stares bother him. There was no doubt that he was a sight for sore eyes- he was just kidnapped for fucks sake. He was still very clearly tied up.

First plan of action should be to find the police station- so what street was he on? Squinting at the nearest road sign let him know it was Chestnut. ...But there wasn’t any Chestnut street in Bellwood.

So apparently he wasn’t even in Bellwood! It was fine, of course- everything always turned out fine. It didn’t matter that it was hard to breathe through the gag or hir entire body was starting to ache or he didn’t know where he was and it  _ especially  _ didn’t matter that he had virtually no way to defend himself.

Ben spared a quick glance behind him and, sure enough, all three aliens were marching down the street toward him with murder in their eyes. It was easy to assume that the only reason they weren’t running was to try not to draw attention.

Well, Ben was born to hog the limelight. 

He stumbled across the street with actively flowing traffic and darted into an alley, continuing onto a different street and repeated the process. He could hardly breathe and  _ really  _ wanted some water, but by the time he stopped to rest, he didn’t see the three aliens after him anymore. 

Ben finally let himself sink to the ground just inside an alley and heaved through the gag to get his breath back. 

The worst part about this wasn’t even how much his body hurt- he just wanted to go home and sleep. He was  _ exhausted. _ Physically. Mentally. This happened way too often for him to handle anymore.

“Excuse me…?”

Ben pretended that he hadn’t tensed so hard his spine cracked as he looked up to see a woman peeking awkwardly into the alley.

“I saw you running and- er… are you okay?”

Ben shook his head with a few muffled sounds.

“Oh, here, dear, I’ll get that off…” she stepped into the alley, frequently giving the darkness cautious glances as she messed with the knot at the back of his head.

When it was finally off, Ben sucked in a deep breath of pure relief. “Thanks. Do you have a knife on you?”

She shook her head, “I have some keys…? Is that sharp enough?”

“Nevermind. Can you point me in the direction of the nearest police station?”

“Sure, dear.” She led him out of the alley and pointed down the street, “you’ll want to go that way until you hit Grazer Street then take a left. Keep going for a bit, then-”

“Liza?”

Ben and the woman- Liza, apparently- both looked to see another, more muscular looking woman approaching with a couple milkshakes.

“Oh, this is Thel. Short for Thelma,” the woman informed him.

“Hi,” she greeted, “can I ask why your tied up or…?”

Ben sighed, “it’s a long story.”

Liza grabbed her friend’s shoulder, “hon, you have a knife, don’t you?”

Thel dug around in her back pocket, “I got my pocket knife. How’s that?”

“Perfect,” Ben turned to show them his arms, “can you try and cut this off?”

Thel flicked the knife open and began to saw at the duct tape, “jesus, this stuff is layered…” she grunted with the effort and gasped when there was a sudden give in the tape, “oh my god, I’m so-... oh, thank god you had that thing on.”

Ben laughed nervously and decided to ignore the way he felt the blade scrape against the omnitrix, “yeah, it’s fine.”

“Careful, Thel!”

“Hang on, I think I can just rip it the rest of the way.” 

Ben shifted impatiently as Thel strained behind him. He had no idea how long he spent with his arms locked up behind him, but his entire back said it’d been far too long. If he ever saw those losers again, he’d be giving them a piece of his mind.

With a loud rip, Ben’s arms came loose. 

“Oh my god,” he groaned, ripping what was left of the duct tape off and stretching his arms to the sky. “ _ Finally.” _

“How about we take you to the police station,” Liza suggested.

Ben rubbed at his arms, grossed out by the sticky feeling left all over them, “thanks, but that’s no longer necessary.” 

“Okay, but this whole thing has been, like, really suspicious? I found you tied up in an alley…”

Ben shrugged like it was nothing, already scrolling through his Omnitrix, “sometimes it be like that.” He stopped on Jetray and gave Liza one of his charming news-reporters-are-filming-me smiles, “thanks for all your help.”

“Anytime…”

Ben slammed his hand down on his watch and took to the skies, watching the two women’s gaping faces shrink below him. He went upward until he could see the edge of town in the distance and angled himself toward it.

Wherever this was, it was definitely smaller than Bellwood. There were no huge factories or big business buildings- no obnoxious Billy Billions skyscrapers either. It was big enough, but couldn’t compare to his hometown (business boomed there since, well, Ben himself was a tourist attraction. He still wasn’t sure how to feel about it).

With Jetray’s vision tailored to seeing obscure things in the distance it was no trouble to read the road sign welcoming drivers to the town of Pronington. Ben now had a… vague idea about where he was in relation to home.

It would be a long flight.

\---

Ben’s omnitrix oh-so-conveniently timed out as he was soaring above the highway, wind rushing around him.

The jarring beeping was his only warning and it sent him straight into a dive, desperate not to have every bone in his body shattered with the impact. 

Instead of every bone shattered, it ended up being half his arm scraped and bleeding. Most of the space out here was farmland, but he had still managed to get hurt on rocks sticking out of the soil.

For a minute, Ben just laid there, staring up at the harsh red of the setting sun. It felt like he had woken up sick, got mobbed, kidnapped, and fell out of the sky all in one day, but the trip from Bellwood to Pronington was… what, a couple hours minimum? And he’d napped before that and it’d been late afternoon when he had…

His memory was spotty. He didn’t know anymore where events fell in relation to each other; it was just a mess of exhaustion and regret.

Ben could very well just let himself pass out here; the plumbers would be looking for him and they could track his DNA… somehow. Plus, he was still conveniently on  _ Earth. _ That was way more accessible than the other side of the galaxy. 

The omnitrix beeped at him and he sighed heavily. Ready to transform again…

\---

The last time Rook had been this exhausted, the universe had been in peril. Today, barely anything had happened except for Ben going missing.

Normally that wouldn’t be so bad, but he went missing while he was sick. While he was upset. While he was under house arrest. While Rook was supposed to  _ watch out for him. _ The worst part was that, after a short search, the two guards that had been stationed outside his room were discovered knocked out in a broom closet. 

The security footage of the incident just gave them two plumbers knocking out two other plumbers then carrying Spidermonkey’s limp body out the door and through some emergency escape rooms. Clearly, some security changes needed to be made. A different way of identifying every plumber, apparently.

Rook had utilized plumber tech to get a read on Ben’s location and was a bit confused to find him just outside Pronington and traveling some nondescript highway, but was worried nonetheless. For all he knew, that could be his corpse…

Magister Tennyson ordered him to bring along a small, elite team for Ben’s recovery and, after what happened last time, he was glad to have them along. They all piled into their respective vehicles (the passenger side of Rook’s truck was reserved for Ben, so the plumbers he carried piled in the back) and took off in the direction of the signal.

It became apparent during the drive that Ben’s signal was coming toward them- or maybe he should say toward Bellwood. Rook would be so  _ relieved  _ if Ben had already escaped on his own. Nothing was ever that easy, though- not on Earth.

\---

Rook had to do a double take when he saw Ben trudging along the side of the highway- the side opposite to the one Rook was currently on. 

He automatically pressed a button and his truck transformed into ship form, flying over the passing cars with a dull roar (the following plumber truck was forced awkwardly slow down and inch its way across the highway, eliciting angry honks from all directions).

Rook dropped his truck on the flattest land he could see and tumbled out, “Ben! Are you alright?”

Ben blinked owlishly at him for a moment, “Rook? Took you long enough…”

“What happened?” He hovered nervously over Ben until his attention was drawn by how beat up he was. One arm was bloodied up while both were covered in strange bruising- even stranger was the bruised lines drawn outward from his mouth. 

“Long story,” Ben muttered passively, swaying a little, “can we just- can we go home now?”

Rook put a gentle hand on his shoulder, “perhaps I should take you to a hospital…”

“Rook,  _ please. _ ”

He would never be able to say no when asked like  _ that. _

Not long after Ben was settled into the passenger seat with a blanket, he was dead asleep. Rook had seen Ben sleep in some pretty weird places in the time he’s known him, but never that fast that deep.

He could only imagine what Ben actually dealt with today, but he would guess he spent a lot of it tied up far too tightly. The second he was awake, Rook would drill him for details on his captors; they  _ would  _ pay for what they did just as everyone else who dared attack Ben.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i guess i lied? there's gonna be a third chapter  
> and i got sidetracked and made all this stuff happen and now idk exactly what's gonna go down next so rip me


End file.
